


Whomever the knightmare takes

by ExplainingTheIndescribable



Series: Only for a Knight [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/F, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 13:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5336111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplainingTheIndescribable/pseuds/ExplainingTheIndescribable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Wherever the Knight bus leads. Please read that first, to prevent spoilers the summary will be a note at the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Carries on from the events of Wherever. Except it was all a hallucination Bellatrix had while she was trapped in St Mungo's. Or was it?  
> What is true and what is not is a jumbled mess in Bella's head. What really happened? And whatever's going on, can Hermione save Bellatrix from her own mind before time runs out?

As her eyes came into focus she stared at the grey surrounding her. Grey walls, grey ceiling… She glanced down, yep, the floor was a dark mottled grey too. It seemed there was no escaping the bland colour that seemed to suck the life out of her surroundings. Maybe even out of her… she shivered involuntarily.   
It took a moment for her rational side to shake off the last vestiges of sleep, before she sat up and realised where she was. It was at that moment, the screaming started. It was when her voice was hoarse that she realised the hysterical, bone-chilling sound originated from her own vocal chords. Straight from her soul.   
Turns out there are places as bad, if not worse, than Askaban. At least there they left you lucid. Although as often is the case, it was both a blessing and a curse knowing what was and wasn’t real.   
She pulled her knees up into her chest to stop herself from shaking, to stop the screaming that was so horrible she wasn’t aware it was a noise humans could make; but her terror escaped, bleeding through in the form of rapidly falling tears. The droplets of water started to obscure her vision as though her body was trying to protect her… as though it wouldn’t be real if it couldn’t be seen. It was through these cascading drops she saw the well-hidden door on the far wall opened, and a young-looking witch in a healer’s uniform walk in carefully carrying a tray. The healer met her patient’s eyes only for a moment, before continuing to the small table that stuck out of the wall near the head of the bed.  
Hermione’s stomach lurched when she saw the state her patient was in. It was usual for the dark witch to be unsure of where she was, aggressive even, but this raw, animal pain was very rare indeed. She forced her lips into the semblance of a smile, and put down the tray almost on autopilot. First she took off the water, then the food, and finally the small cup of pills the patient had been prescribed, carefully avoiding eye contact. If she strayed too long, she was sure she would reach out to comfort the older witch, and that just couldn’t be done. She had to remain professional. Besides, Bellatrix was too fragile…  
Steadying her resolve, Hermione continued her duties on autopilot. Carefully blocking the camera view for a moment, she slipped a pill from somewhere up her sleeve into Bellatrix’s water jug. It dissolved in a microsecond. Also as usual, the brunette had switched the pills meant for Bellatrix with what were essentially sugar-capsule placebos. It was horrible to see anyone suffering this much, but if her patient took the real pills… well she didn’t need any more hallucinations.   
Hallucinations where Hermione was more than just her mediwitch, and where Andromeda and Narcissa were still alive, reunited even. Illusions where she was happy and free, and in love with a wonderful woman who would hopefully soon be her partner for life. All despite her adamant proclamations in her youth, that there was no such thing as love, let alone a happily-ever-after.  
It seemed to the doctors that these figments of her imagination were the only protection from reality her mind could provide her with. This may be a horrible situation, but Hermione didn’t see a better alternative. Not quite yet. She could only stall for time.  
Once the brunette woman had left, Bella twisted to lie on her side and curled up into a tight ball. Her fingers traced the tattoo of her family crest just below her ribs, holding on to anything that was familiar. So much for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Bellatrix was trapped somewhere in the dark depths of St Mungo’s, and there was nothing she could do about it.


	2. Chapter 2

One week before Bella’s admittance to St Mungo’s  
It was the night of yet another celebration. Birthdays, Draco and Harry’s wedding, Ginny and Luna’s baby-shower and then christening… there were so many events she missed because she was trying to stay sober. Events that her mum had the nerve to ban her from. But it didn’t matter anyway, she was trying to do the right thing for her son, but it was a lot harder during full moons when no-one was there to support her. Full-moons also meant that there was no-one around to know if she had a small sip of that delicious vintage wine Remus’ parents had given them on their wedding day.   
It was the only alcohol left in the house, but Tonks knew Remus wouldn’t notice. They had agreed never to drink it anyway, unless there was an incredibly special occasion.  
She felt slightly guilty as she pulled out the cork. Slightly more as she started to pour a small amount into a glass, but not enough to stop herself. She would only smell it, enjoy the fragrance she was no longer allowed to be around. She inhaled deeply and revelled in the enticing exotic scents that filled her nostrils.   
It was good…. It would probably taste even better….  
Besides, one small sip wouldn’t hurt anyone.  
She brought the glass to her lips and paused, before tipping the glass up and drinking until the liquid was gone. It was only a small amount after all.  
She looked back to the bottle. It was a rather good wine, she put the glass down heavily and sighed.   
She started walking back to her room to retire, before a thought occurred to her.  
The wine would only go off it no one drank it… plus if Reus saw an opened bottle… well he would only overreact.   
Her resolve weakened. She didn’t want to have to face Remus if he saw an open bottle of wine.   
She took the bottle and walked over to the sink, but she paused.  
It would be so wasteful to throw it down the drain.  
She stood there a while, resolve fighting weakness. Alcohol was her only crutch, and sometimes she needed something to lean on.   
She made her decision. She didn’t have a problem, and she certainly wasn’t feeding any addiction, she just appreciated the finer things in life and saw no need to deprive herself of them. You only live once after all.  
Soon enough the bottle was only half full, and she was feeling a lot better than earlier. Much more relaxed.  
Tonks couldn’t help it.   
If she had only known the spiral of events this would start, perhaps things would have been different. Unfortunately she wasn’t thinking of any small chain of events this could start, she wasn’t even thinking about tomorrow. Currently, Tonks was only regretting ever giving up wine in the first place.  
When Andromeda found her the next morning, she was lying passed out in a pool of her own vomit halfway to the toilet.  
For a fleeting moment the middle Black sister felt like crying. Her daughter was such a mess. Again. But that wouldn’t do anyone any good.  
After making sure she was still breathing, Andromeda arrived at an unhappy decision, and set about tidying her up. This was the last time she would protect her daughter. She had to learn how to get better, and it seemed she needed help to do it.   
With a flick of her wand, the mess was gone. Then, she swallowed that infamous Black family pride and cast a feather-light charm.  
Andromeda apparated them to the St Mungo’s rehabilitation unit this way, holding Tonks’ hand as she floated unconsciously beside her.


	3. Chapter 3

Running through a field of wheat, she didn’t stop to look behind her. At least, it smelt like what she imagined burning wheat would smell like. It was difficult to distinguish anything much in the contrast between the star-lit black night and the smoke and flames dancing around her.   
The swirls of heat were becoming closer to one another, until they bled into one roaring wave of fire and heat; a wave that was rapidly crashing down behind her. So she ran faster. Her feet barely touched the ground as she sprinted, and it was working… She was leaving the flames behind.   
In the darkness, she let out a howl of victory as she ran, she was safe now. Just for a little while, just for now she could sit by the river that had just entered her line of sight. Yes, sitting down on the rocky overhang and drinking cool water was exactly what the mediwitch ordered. She smiled at the thought and the exhilaration of outrunning nature herself.  
Bellatrix slowed to a leisurely walk as she looked behind her, the flames seemed like merely a brightly lit candle somewhere in the night, dwindling even as she watched. She grinned. And then coughed. And then she coughed again.   
The simple fact Bellatrix had overlooked, was that flames in an open field did not simply dwindle away of their own accord.  
Looking up at the sky, no silver specks of stars remained. Glancing back down she could no longer see the river either. There was only blackness or rather, darkness visible. She couldn’t help but cough once more as she turned sharply back to the flames, they too had been extinguished.   
Bella may have outrun the flames, but she could not outrun the smoke.  
The thick smog shrouding her in that world poisoned her senses enough to bring her back to reality.   
The first thing she noticed, though her eyes remained closed and her body still, was that her hands were cold.  
She struggled not to try and cough the smoke out of her lungs. It wasn’t real, she told herself, it was just a bad dream.  
Observing the room as stealthily as possible with one eye cracked open, Bellatrix noticed the silent brunette writing furiously on a clipboard. When Bella chanced a glance again, this time the young witch was staring straight at her with the sad, contemplative expression of someone trying to decide how to break some bad news or whether or not to put down a puppy. Although she wasn’t sure why afterwards, Bella instantly closed her eyes in a vain attempt to pretend she was still asleep.   
A warm hand briefly brushed against her own frozen one.  
There was a faintly whispered spell and suddenly her hands were no longer cold. In fact she felt rather comfortable, comfortable enough to relax a bit more between the rough sheets sandwiching her into a strange sort of cocoon.  
“Bellatrix”  
Bella decided to play along, opening her eyes and stretching, pretending she had just been woken from a deep sleep.  
She looked expectantly at the woman standing by her bed cot.  
“Do you know who I am?”  
“Um, a mediwitch?”  
“Anything else?”  
Bella squinted at her name tag  
“Hermione”  
The young witch sighed with a smile that was out of sync with the sadness she exuded. She closed her clipboard.  
“I’ll be back tomorrow Bella.”   
Hermione didn’t notice the slip with her nickname, but it didn’t slip past Bellatrix. Nor did what she whispered on her way out.  
“And every day after that.”   
She glanced upwards at the dirty white ceiling.  
“I haven’t given up”

A/N   
Kudos to anyone who caught the Paradise Lost reference… Bella will be out of hell soon. Well soonish.


	4. Chapter 4

The night of Bella’s admittance  
“What can we do with her?”  
Hermione was in rational mode, this wasn’t the time for emotions. No matter how close to heartbroken she was.  
“We’ll have to put her in St Mungos” McGonagall never was one to beat about the bush, but she did pause before vocalising her next thought “In the insanity ward”  
Hermione was instantly furious “The WHAT? The insanity ward? Really Minerva are you quite serious? You know how badly they treat people there! Bella wouldn’t stand a chance, it would actually drive her crazy!”  
McGonagall looked at her sadly “And that will help preserve her cover”  
“You can’t be serious”  
She sat down, next to Bellatrix’s form lying on the chaise lounge.  
“How else could we possibly explain her condition? Who know what mental deficits she will present once she’s fully lucid. I hope you remember what happened to Mr Lockhart?”  
McGonagall paused again, hesitantly, as though she couldn’t believe she was speaking the words “And this is the only way Nymphadora will escape prison”  
She placed a hand on Hermione’s shoulder “There is no known cure or reversal technique. You know as well as I do that you would not be here if there was any other option, and this is the only choice I can see, Hermione”  
“Not much of a choice, is it” Hermione smiled sadly and turned to Bellatrix’s form lying completely still on the couch. Her mentor was right. She had no other options.  
So she gave in.  
“It won’t be for long Bellatrix, I promise”  
The strength in her voice would have given Bella courage if she had the faintest idea who the young witch was.  
In her current state, Bella was actually under a Petrificus Totalus, to stop her doing herself or anyone else any harm until they reached an agreement with an ideally perfect place. She was, however, listening intently to the goings on and trying to make sure no one realised she was fully lucid until she worked out some form of escape plan. And where on Earth she could go to next.  
The last thing she remembered, was walking in on a crying Narcissa, because someone had poisoned her doll’s hair with orange streaks.   
One minute she was running over to Narcissa and comforting the sobbing girl, the next she was waking up in the arms of the strange brunette girl talking to a woman who looked like she could have been McGonagall’s mum.  
This was weird…


	5. Chapter 5

Present day  
Hermione put away the last vial of ingredients before closing the cabinet and heading out, turning off the light as she went.  
Her phone buzzed as a message from Harry came through  
You really shouldn’t work so late you know  
She smiled and minimised the message, her best friend still knew her better than she knew herself.   
Just as she did with him.  
He was one of the few people/things keeping her sane really, this potion was taking up all her spare time and not progressing as fast as she would like it to.  
Or rather, as fast as Bellatrix needed it to.  
The longer this went on for, the less likely it was all of her memories would return. And the more time St Mungo’s had to decide to determine Bellatrix a lost cause and return her to Askaban.  
She wiped her arm across her elbow and took away some of the soot from the cauldron resting there as she waited a moment before throwing the power and the floo flames turned green.  
“I’ll find a way Bella. I promised you I’d find a cure, and I will, as soon as I can mindre”


	6. Chapter 6

Two months prior  
It was a Saturday night like any other, and Tonks had just retired to her room at the rehabilitation centre. Although it was games night, weekends were usually the hardest; she had the most fond memories of drinking with her friends at parties… It’s funny, silly really, how little things like the day of the week can dampen someone’s mood so much. She paced for a while before plonking down rather heavily on the garish pink armchair that sat in the corner. This was deathly boring and she needed something to do outside of play checkers with the other ‘inmates’ as they referred to themselves. She suddenly missed those summer weekends her family had spent in Cornwall. They had been perfectly boring at the time, I mean there are only so many shells you can look at and crabs you can catch and release before you feel like you’re losing your marbles, but she had been free. Even at birthdays and Christmases with everyone gathered in one place and the arguments that entailed, she had always been free.   
Tonks had never thought she’d be nostalgic about heated family arguments over the best way to cut a turkey, yet here she was. Anything had to be better than this.   
She thumped her fists into the armrests of the chair in frustration.  
She needed a miracle.  
A clattering sound soon followed, like the sound of wood on a stone floor, and a wand rolled out from under the chair.   
After staring at the Black Walnut length of wood lying in front of her for a good ten seconds, she was suddenly smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. She sent a quick thank you to whom- or whatever was listening, and apparated to the Weasley’s. Hanging out with the twins sounded like an excellent way to spend her newly free evening! Unfortunately, no one was in the Weasley boys’ rooms, nor the usually busy kitchen and living room. She had little time to think it odd, before she heard Molly’s voice growing closer. The Weasley matriarch would most definitely not approve of her skipping out on rehab using a stranger’s wand, and then would probably try to over-feed her. Usually Tonks wouldn’t mind spending time with Molly, they did get along rather well, but tonight Tonks felt like doing something; she wanted to go out and enjoy herself for as long as her night lasted.   
She apparated to the local shop and bought a few drinks, after all, it wouldn’t do to turn up empty handed when trying to initiate a little party…  
Her next choice would be Draco and Harry. They didn’t seem to make it out much after they got married, but they were a riot when they did…. Let’s just say there’s a reason the Leaky Cauldron and several other notable night-time establishments were closed for a week two Tuesday’s ago, and leave it at that.  
\---------------  
Hermione had dragged Bella to spend ‘quality time’ with Draco and Harry that same night.  
Bella didn’t see the need to spend quality time with people she spent most of her time with anyway. In fact, she didn’t think she could get away from them if she tried. Plus, she would much rather spend her time snuggled up in bed with a certain brunette… Her argument had been very convincing too. Hermione had very nearly given in when Bella started giving her love-bites.   
Unfortunately, Crookshanks had the worst timing of any animal alive ever. Ever.  
So instead here she was, stuck with her very hot, and very stubborn, girlfriend. Having the time of their lives playing Scrabble.  
To be fair, Bella loved Scrabble, she just didn’t like to lose.  
“Quay… 16 points, oh look… is that a double word tile? I think so” Draco finished smugly as he wrote his score down on the sheet  
“I’m going to get a drink…”  
“And a juice for me too please!”  
Bella smiled back at her beaming Gryffindor and headed for the kitchen.  
She was just licking the edge of the spout when she heard the sound of glass-smashing and very nearly threw the rest of the juice all over an equally surprised Tonks.   
Tonks took a moment longer to recover, hiccupping as it dawned on her that she had dropped her bag of empty bottles on the floor.   
“Sup aunty!” Bella was staring at her slightly more curiously now she was over the initial shock, and edged closer to her slowly.  
“What are you doing out, kiddo?” She said it gently, as she would a frightened child or wounded creature.   
“We’re having a party!”   
Bella linked her nieces arm with her own, ready to apparate them back  
Tonks threw her off harshly  
“No. I see what you’re doing! I’m not going back. I’m fine…” The slur in her words didn’t help make her point “and now I’m free… it’s so claustrophobic in there! And there’s nothing to do… Nope, nu-uh, not going back. Not tonight aunty, please”  
Her indignation soon bordered petulant.   
“Dora, what would Andy say?”   
Bella didn’t want to force her, and the woman might be strong enough to stop her judging from the almighty force of that shove.  
Her face fell “Mum doesn’t need to know” her face brightened up, before turning serious again “I won’t tell if you don’t”  
Bella kept her voice calm, trying to work out how to call for Hermione and back up  
“I want you to get better, kiddo”   
It was slowly dawning on Tonks that she wasn’t going to win this one  
And then she’d be back in that horrid place for even longer  
A sly look crept onto her features. Bella missed it for a moment, now focusing on trying to disarm the woman.   
“Wait… Tonks, that’s not even your-“  
“Obliviate”  
Tonks grinned to herself  
Now, her secret was safe, she could carry on having her night of fun, pop back into rehab in the morning, and no one would be any the wiser!  
Her grin slipped slightly as Bella fell limply sideways, her elbow knocking the glasses of juice as she fell. The broken glass cut into her arm, mixing with the liquid from the glass and creating a horrible stain of red blood on orange.  
Tonk’s stared down at the unconscious figure.  
Well that didn’t usually happen.   
\---------------   
After hearing a second crash from the kitchen, Hermione decided to take a reprieve from letting Draco win and headed after Bella. She knew her witch was a little clumsy sometimes, especially in the kitchen, but two glasses smashing? From pouring some juice?   
With a smile at the remembrance of Bella’s many past kitchen antics including the time she tried to make flaming cocktails, and nearly set the kitchen ablaze when the little umbrellas accidentally caught fire, she stepped over the kitchen threshold.   
Bella was lying alone in a small, cold pool of orange juice and blood on the floor, with more red seeping slowly down her arm and dripping to join the ever growing puddle.  
For those who do not know, the Black Walnut wood, such as that of the wand Tonks used to cast that fateful Obliviate, is extremely attuned to inner conflict, and loses power when the user practises self-deception. Such a wand, forced into action by someone in denial of an addiction, who was never meant to use it, and someone in an intoxicated state, does not make for the most impressive spellwork. Nor does it make for very accurate spells.   
The wand is meant to choose the witch or wizard for a reason.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Hermione walked in to find Bellatrix sitting in bed, fiddling with the bedclothes as though she were trying to figure out a puzzle.  
She looked up as the brunette entered, and smiled childishly.  
Hermione’s heart leapt, this was new.  
“Do I know you?”  
Bella’s voice was quiet, and innocently childlike, as though she were only a little witch still curious about the world.  
“I’m your mediwitch” The dark witch seemed both lucid and willing to engage in conversation.   
She couldn’t help but smile for real as Bella looked back down to the slightly twisted bed sheet in her hands.  
“Oh. You just look familiar is all” Dark eyes looked up at her again beseechingly “Are you sure?”  
Hermione outright grinned “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” She tried to keep her patient engaged “Where do you think you know me from?”  
There was a longer pause as her brow creased.   
“I’m not sure…”  
A lock of hair fell in front of her face which she quickly brushed back behind her ear.   
“Have you ever been to a Black family Yule Ball?”  
Hermione had been in the process of taking the water jug off the table and onto the tray, and she very nearly dropped the whole thing on the floor.  
Bella remembered her childhood.  
Hermione’s mind and heart started racing together, she had been trying not to get her hopes up, but this was incredible… Bella’s memories were coming back by themselves.  
“Hmm… you know, I don’t think I have”  
She tried to keep the conversation going, she needed to know how much Bella really remembered, whilst not scaring the childlike-persona Bellatrix seemed to have adopted.  
“What are they like?”  
“Oh… they’re indescribable! You’ll have to come to the next one… I’ll get mum to invite you to the next one, they’re soo much fun. Well most of the time. There was this one time, our parents got mad because I told Andy, that’s my sister, to shut up because she talks and talks and talks, and then we weren’t allowed to say that anymore because it made Andy cry! But then here was another time Andy was talking so much up and Narcissa, our other sister got really really mad cuz she wanted to build her marshmallow castle in peace and so said SILENCE YOU PEASANT and the look on Andy’s face was sooo funny” A beaming grin lit up her face “Although Cissy’s she’s really tiny and delicate and small and polite so nobody believed it was her, they all thought it was me and I got in trouble. Although she snuck me a big piece of cake and we shared it so it was still a fun party. And there was another time!! When Cissy was really little, she like still learning to talk and and she” Bella dissolved into a fit of giggles. It took a few minutes before she could compose herself enough to talk again “She kept tugging on mum’s dress right, because she wanted a fork, but they didn’t know that cuz she couldn’t speak properly, and it sounded like she was saying ‘what the fuck!’ over and over again! They were sooo embarrassed” Bella was grinning from ear to ear. “And now we’re not allowed to speak during the parties.” she let out a heavy sigh “I mean except to answer questions like how old we are and stuff like that. A lot of grown-ups seem obsessed with age, and also how big we’ve gotten. I think we grow lots because it’s the only thing the adults say to us really” she lowered her voice to a whisper “I think they’re worried we’ll become giants” She nodded matter-of-factly “Although I can’t see Cissy as a giant... and I don’t think giants get cake. So it’s not something I’m aiming for, but sometimes stuff just happens…”  
She trailed off suddenly  
“Although that doesn’t explain why you look familiar”  
Bella looked at her almost accusingly  
Hermione was still recovering from the speed with which Bella told her about the party, and how wonderful it was to talk to Bella. Even if it was a regressed version of her.  
“I guess I just have one of those faces” she tried to brush it off, finishing up what she was doing  
“I suppose”  
Hermione realised she had better leave.  
She turned back before she reached the door  
“Would you like some colouring pencils?”  
She’d read some words by a muggle called Freud, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see a bit more into her current state of mind  
Dark eyes lit up as the woman practically leapt up.   
“Yes please!”  
She smiled and promised to bring them back soon, to the childlike-persona inhabiting the woman who still looked like the version of Bellatrix she knew.  
Bellatrix lay down on the sheets, put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. This was going to be a lot more fun is she could do some art. Her parents had never allowed her to pursue creative endeavours… stating that a lady should be able to do them, but not as anything more than as something to do when her future husband or kids didn’t need tending to. Family always came fist.  
Hermione stood outside the closed door for a moment. This was an incredibly strange day, but one which had made a faint seed of hope grow stronger.


	8. Chapter 8

Seeds are fragile things.  
Hermione decided to see to the rest of her patients before returning to Bella with pencils and paper, then she could spend some time with her and maybe learn a little more about her current stage, perhaps how old exactly she thought she was.  
That was her first mistake.  
By the time she returned, Bella had fallen asleep. Accidentally-on-purpose waking her up, Hermione produced the supplies she had promised, along with some paints too, just in case.  
Her smile quickly faded as she saw the look Bella was giving her.  
These personality shifts were going to give her whiplash.  
Silently replacing everything back on a tray, she made her way to the door once more. She was gutted.  
“See you soon, Bella”  
Bellatrix’s expression changed from threatening with a narrowed stare to fully opened eyes and stared in astonishment after the mediwitch. No one called her Bella… other than maybe Narcissa when she was in a playful mood. Which could be rare in itself.   
Who was this witch to call her by a childhood nickname? Who was she, to have a nickname for her at all? She was Bellatrix Black! Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black… and some random stranger thought it was perfectly fine to refer to her so colloquially?!  
It just would not do.  
She would make a stand!  
Bella made to stand up, to call out after her and ask what in Merlin’s name she thought she was doing.  
The shackles on her wrist prevented her from even getting that far.  
She shook her wrist. Her movement was completely restricted.   
She scowled, before a manic bubbling laugh broke free from her lips and she shook her chains more fiercely.   
They thought they could lock her up, tie her down?  
She would show them. She would wreck havoc and make chaos rain down on them all.  
She fixed her insane grin at the door. The first to suffer would be that damned mediwitch.  
She would have followed through with her decision too, if it weren’t for the fact that she would forget all of this by the next time she woke up.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry looked at Hermione in stunned silence for a moment.  
“Let me just make sure I’m not missing anything here…”  
Hermione nodded, it was rather a lot to take in  
“So Bellatrix is stuck in the insanity ward of St Mungo’s until you can invent a potion that can restore her memories so everyone doesn’t realise her memories have been wiped, so her mind’s essentially been transported back decades in time to when she was about twelve years old?”  
“Pretty much”  
The young man whistled outwards slowly  
“That’s a tall order”  
Harry took his best friend’s hands in his own  
“But if anyone can do it, you can Hermione.”  
She laughed  
“Thanks Harry… I hope so too.”  
“Definitely. You’re the brightest witch of our whole generation!”  
She smiled, grateful to have such a solid friend in her life, and even moreso that she could finally talk to someone about what had been going on. Her friend’s had been more than a little surprised that she upped and left Flourish & Blotts, one of her favourite places in the world, to work in St Mungo’s overnight.   
Now knowing what he did, it made a lot more sense to Harry.  
“Do you… know who did it? Who cast the Obliviate I mean?”  
“I think so… but I mean no one was there when I found her.”  
Hermione shook her head and fidgeted with her hands.  
“ Remember how I just disappeared that night? Well I went to McGonagall… she thinks it was   
He nodded  
“And who do you think it was?”  
She took a deep breath  
“Tonks”  
“Tonks?! She couldn’t hurt a fly… and why would she?”  
“Has Andromeda told you about…”  
“Ah… Yeah, she has”  
“Well, what if Tonks relapsed that night? Before I went into the kitchen, do you remember hearing glass smash twice? There was a pile of broken green glass, from a bottle of beer or something… one that we hadn’t brought with us… “  
“And we don’t keep alcohol in the house in case Teddy comes round…” Harry finished off for her “Could you imagine trying to explain a drunk baby to Andy?”  
He tried to lighten the mood  
“Yeah, she wouldn’t be too pleased”  
She smiled weakly at him  
“And it explains why there wasn’t any sign of a struggle and why the person just disappeared afterwards…”  
Hermione nodded along with his train of thought. It was the same conclusions she had arrived at.   
“Wait a second, are we sure it wasn’t Druella? She could find out where Draco and I live easily enough…”  
“But there’s no way she would hurt Bellatrix. Especially not with a memory wipe charm… She wouldn’t want the scandal if it came out that one of the Black daughters was in the darker part of St Mungo’s”  
“So, it only really makes sense that it was Tonks, drunkenly using a charm that went wrong”  
“Exactly”  
“And why are you telling me this now? How does that help you fix Bella’s memory?”  
“Because for the reversal potion, I think I need a hair of the person who performed the Obliviate”  
Harry closed his eyes briefly  
“You want us to break her out of Rehab?”  
“No silly, nothing quite so drastic. I need us to break in to rehab”  
He looked at her  
“Oh yes, that’s a much better plan. Nothing could go wrong with that”  
She hit his arm lightly  
“Exactly”  
He rolled his eyes. This was definitely not going to go to plan.  
“Less of that and more cunning planning thank you”  
She took out a notebook from her bag  
“This is just a vague plan…”  
Harry had to admit, for a vague plan she did have most things covered  
A short while later  
“And how are we going to get out? We can’t both fit under the invisibility cloak”  
“You know, I’m not entirely sure… but I’m sure we’ll work it out”  
Her lack of meticulous attention to detail worried him the most.  
“Alright. When are we doing this?”  
“Well, what are you doing tonight?”  
“Tonight?!?”  
“Why wait…”  
“You give me an afternoon’s notice that we’re going to break into a rehabilitation centre without a solid plan?”  
“For what preparation could you need more time?”  
“Saying goodbye to my husband perhaps, before we go to prison…”   
He mumbled half-heartedly.   
He rubbed his temples.  
“Tonight it is.”


End file.
